Prank

Social media has blown up over the six high school girls who took a yearbook picture day and turned it into a nation-wide controversy over a single word . . . Ni**er. The students, originally appearing in t-shirts with many others that spelled out “Best*You’ve*Ever*Seen*Class*of*2016” rearranged a few letters to spell out the taboo word as a not-very-well-thought-out prank.

The students and their faces are now trending on Facebook resulting in millions of people fuming and branding them as racists over a single picture.

The racial slur, if uttered by a non-African American, has ended the careers and credibility of countless people.

Now the students of Desert Vista High School have been suspended for five days while 37,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling for their expulsion.

An expulsion would strip them of their diplomas and literally kill their college careers before they began.

The word, which this writer dare not spell out of fear of our publication being labeled as a “hate site,” is used liberally by black Americans, especially those in the hip hop community.

Ironically, rappers Nas and Kelis, showed up at the Grammy awards three years ago with the word emblazoned on their attire.

The result of their statement . . . celebration.

The double standard goes against free speech, racist or not.

Living in a free society means you’re free to be a bigot, racist, or just plain dumb. And you can do it as much as you like as long as you don’t harm others.

The petition signers, who demand government apply a harsh punishment to the girls, are engaging in nothing more than politically correct induced mass hysteria.

Deconstructing the offense, these high school seniors made two mistakes: They had a silly moment they publicized and they were white.